THE WORD AROUND is that college is all about cracking the books and all-nighters in the library. But that's not entirely true. For most, it's all about the festivities. The fun, fun, fun!
Y/N looked out the lab window, seeing students that evening wearing costumes and walking around, joyful and laughing amongst their peers. There were also some booths giving out snacks, candies, and drinks. A few groups also had music playing from their speakers.
It was Halloween weekend, and people at ESU celebrated it. But not Y/N. He was to himself in his professor's lab, helping him with a lesson plan.
Y/N would consider him a single fun kind of guy...without the exclamation point at the end—just fun.
"Mr. L/N?" Dr. Connors called out from the table. "What's going on?"
"Oh." Y/N looked back. "Nothing, sir."
He pushed himself from the window back to the nearby table while on his swivel chair. Y/N resumed typing on his laptop. Connors walked up to him.
"I hope you're not thinking you'd rather be out there having mindless enjoyment instead of helping with the upcoming lesson plan in cell regeneration."
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"No, sir. I was just about to check the regeneration rate."
"You say it like you're checking your email." He leaned in and checked the screen. "Have I not made it clear the importance of this experiment?"
"No, I get it, sir." He replied. "Reptilian DNA somehow can program cells to reconstruct missing appendages."
"Legs. Skin." Connors walked back to an enclosure by the window. "Chlamydosaurus kingii—the frilled lizard."
Y/N joined him and looked at the reptile. The scientist continued.
"Attacked by a predator, it'll leave its tail behind so it can escape, only to grow a new one later."
"Huh. Interesting feature." Y/N replied.
Connors turned around. "And?"
"And I suppose if a man could do that..."
"You're finally getting it."
Connors lifted his right arm, showing the prosthetic he had gotten a few months ago. He gazed at it.
"What would someone like me give to regenerate my arm?" He added. "An accident takes it away...and an injection of hybrid DNA brings it back."
Seconds later, a timer goes off. It lets Connors know to move into the next step in the process.
"Time to incrementalize the enzyme reagent. How's it holding?"
Y/N sat back down and looked at his laptop screen.
"Cellular regeneration is at a rate of...two to the third power every 10 seconds."
"My God..." Connors walked back to his microscope and looked into it. "This is better than I expected."
